CEPD to present free economic zone plan next week

FREE TRADE:：The council said it was confident the Cabinet would approve the plan, with three such zones being established first in northern, central and southern Taiwan

By Camaron Kao / Staff reporter

Tue, Mar 12, 2013 - Page 13

The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) will present by week its plan on building free economic demonstration zones in the nation, with the Cabinet set to approve the plan by the middle of next month, the head of the council said.

REPORT

“We will give an oral report to the Cabinet by next week concerning the free economic demonstration zones, as the premier has said the issue is urgent,” CEPD Minister Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) said at the legislature’s Economics Committee meeting yesterday.

Kuan said he was confident that the plan would be approved by the Cabinet next month.

The free economic demonstration zones would focus on high-level services such as legal consulting, accounting and financial services, Kuan said, adding that such jobs could help raise average salary levels.

The design of the free economic demonstration zones will be based on the concept of free trade zones stipulated in the Act for the Establishment and Management of Free Trade Zones (自由貿易港區設置管理條例), which was amended in December last year.

SERVICES

The planned zones would also include services like healthcare, medical treatment, cosmetic surgery and agricultural processing, Kuan said., adding that the government would introduce further liberalization measures to enhance business in the zones.

Asked whether the planned zones would open the door to Chinese products to enter Taiwan, Kuan said all products made in the zones would be shipped overseas.

Three free economic demonstration zones will be set up first in northern, central and southern Taiwan, and other local governments can apply to join the project after a special law governing the zones is passed, Kuan said.